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Three-way fight to prise Glen Johnson away from Pompey

GARETH BARRY soon became old news. That is probably the way the England midfielder would prefer it; in any other summer the rights and wrongs of his decision to choose Manchester City's money over the medal potential of moving to Liverpool would keep the message boards busy for weeks.

In the event, by the time City unveiled Barry on Thursday, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Real Madrid and galacticos were the key words in football's discourse. Compared with the extravagant deals happening on continental Europe, the English transfer market seemed as unglamorous as Susan Boyle next to Carla Bruni.

Even yesterday's news that Portsmouth's Glen Johnson was being courted by Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City - all waving cheques for up to £20m - hardly had pulses racing in a week when Real just taken their spending to £136m on just two players with the promise of plenty more to